Digital disruptions in the accounting profession

Many industries have been disrupted by online applications. It’s quite unbelievable to stop and think that the largest retailer in the world (Amazon) has no shop or that the largest taxi service (Uber) has no stock of vehicles or that the largest accommodation bookings site (Airbnb) doesn’t let out any of its own properties. Similarly, online applications are making it possible for firms to do a lot of menial accounting work without the need for an actual accountant or bookkeeper.

The above is leading many to question the future role of the traditional accountant. There has even been speculation in academic circles that the “accountant” as we know him/her today will not be around 10 years from now. This begs the question then - where does this leave those currently in the accounting profession? Adapt or die!

At The Tax Shop we have and are taking huge strides to ensure that we remain relevant in our profession and as service providers to our clients by adopting innovative cloud technology which does away with the need to bill long hours for menial, data-capturing work. Rather, such work is dramatically reduced by intuitive artificial intelligent (AI) systems which results in huge cost savings to clients and in return, frees us up to provide genuine services to our clients which add real value to their businesses and to them.

In addition to the above, online systems give us the ability to service clients from anywhere in the world on any device. No longer are we bound to the limitations of a stand-alone computer. The change in technology means we’ve had to look at the way in which traditional accountants bill for their time and has meant a shift in the pricing of many of our services too.

The above processes now form part of our system for building a practice “in the cloud” which is able to meet the real needs of clients and which bills clients only for real value which is added. Clients appreciate this as is evidenced by a recent testimonial:

“ We have used quite a few accountants over the past 20 years but none can match the service received from The Tax Shop. ” Heather Auer Art & Sculpture Gallery